The Blush Factor by Deborah Bladon
Chapter Six
Matthew
Tilly: So what did you think?!
With my gazepinned to my phone’s screen, I step onto the elevator in my building. I thought Fleur was pretty but pretentious when I met her tonight. I could tell within thirty seconds of shaking her hand that nothing was going to happen between us beyond some stilted conversation as I downed a couple of glasses of sparkling water since I’m on call tonight.
I type out a response.
Matt: It was good to see you and Sebastian. I enjoyed meeting your friend, but we won’t be seeing each other again.
I readover what I typed. It’s direct and to the point. I don’t want to give Tilly any false hope that she’ll pass on to Fleur. I press send and shift my feet forward, anxious to get to my apartment, so I can grab a shower before I fall into bed.
I glance down at the elevator floor when I feel something bump against the toe of my shoe. Brown oxfords. They’re not only stylish, but they’re comfortable. They were also a gift from my twin brother.
He bought a pair and loved them so much that he dropped off a pair for me a day later.
I thanked him with a case of beer.
It wasn’t an even trade because the shoes are what you’d expect to find on the feet of a wealthy lawyer, not on a veterinarian who just finished paying off his student debt.
Since I’m the only person on the elevator, I bend down to retrieve a book.
I pick it up and turn it over.
It’s leather-bound with worn edges. The letters F and U are stamped across the front of it in gold lettering.
FU.
Fuck You.
I laugh to myself. This has to belong to one of the college students that live in the apartment a floor above me.
If they were graded on partying, they’d be world-class scholars.
I know at least four of them live there. I’ve met them at different times the past few months as they’ve come down to my apartment to apologize for the noise.
I’ve assured each of them that it’s not a problem. I sleep heavy. A little music and raucous conversation aren’t enough to rouse me.
As soon as the doors of the lift slide open on my floor, I step out.
Laughing, I take wide steps down the corridor to the open door of my apartment, calling out as I near it, “I’m giving you one warning to show yourself, or I can’t promise that you won’t end up in a headlock.”
My twin brother steps into view from my apartment. “I came down to check on you since you weren’t answering my texts, asshole.”
I stop mid-step and cock a brow. “Asshole? Who the fuck do you think you are, you bastard?”
He closes the distance between us with a few broad steps.
“You smell good,” he says as he looks me over. “A suit and a nice shirt, and would you look at that, you’re wearing your best shoes. You were on a date. What’s her name?”
I point at the open doorway that leads into my home. “It’s late. You’re going to wake the building, so get inside.”
He does as I say before I follow him in, shutting my apartment door behind me.
* * *
“Her name was Fleur,and I’m not seeing her again,” I say before my brother can ask again about the woman I met tonight.
Call it twin intuition or just curious luck, but he always seems to know when I’ve spent time with a woman.
“Fleur?” Roman cocks a brow.
“Fleur Fonseca,” I enunciate each syllable for good measure.
He narrows his eyes. “Who set you up?”
“Matilda.” I smile. “She’s convinced I need a wife.”
“My wife is convinced of the same thing,” Roman notes. “Bianca’s been talking about setting you up with a woman she met through work.”
“That’s a hard no.” I shake my head. “I’m not interested. I’m not looking. I enjoy being single.”
Roman holds up both hands in mock surrender. “I get it. Marriage isn’t for everyone.”
My gaze catches on the gold band wrapped around his ring finger on his left hand. Marriage has been good to my twin brother. He took the leap a couple of months after he proposed to Bianca. They wanted that bond in place before their son is born next month.
I drop the thick book I found in the elevator on my foyer table, along with my phone and keys. “Tell me the real reason you were lurking in my apartment just now.”
“I was looking for chocolate,” he confesses. “My wife has a craving, and I figured I could save myself a trip to the bodega.”
Before I have a chance to ask if he checked my freezer for the stash of chocolate bars I keep there for my sister-in-law and nieces, he pipes up again. “Since when do you have time to catch up on reading? What’s the title of that? F,” he pauses for a second before he spits out the other letter on the front of the book I found in the elevator, “U?”
Heading toward the kitchen, I let out a laugh.
“FU?” he repeats. “Fuck you. That’s mature, Matthew. What’s it about?”
“Hell if I know,” I call back over my shoulder. “I found it in the elevator. My guess is that one of the guys who live in the apartment above me dropped it. I’ll get it to them in the morning.”
Silence settles in the apartment as I rummage around in my freezer, looking for a few chocolate bars I can hand off to my brother.
His voice startles me when I hear it right behind me. “This doesn’t belong to one of them. This is a diary, Matt. I think it might belong to the woman who lives across the hall from you. Faith Upton.”
Before I can respond, my phone starts ringing. I scoot around my brother and head straight toward the foyer table where I dropped it.
“Who is it?” Roman asks. “Fleur?”
Shaking my head, I let out a low chuckle. “It’s work. Fleur and I were finished before we even started.”
